NationStates Jolt Archive

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7514035.stm

Beijing citizens have been told not to pick their noses, yawn or scratch their heads when talking to foreigners during the Olympics.

Ordinary people have also been given detailed instructions on how to talk to disabled people during the Paralympics.

It also warns Beijing people not to yawn, shout, pick their noses, scratch their heads, play with their fingernails or pull at their clothes while talking.

The booklet suggests people abide by the "eight don't ask" principle when talking to foreigners.

In the booklet, propaganda chiefs remind Beijing citizens to be careful when being interviewed by foreign journalists during the Olympics, which begin on 8 August.

It tells them not to say or do anything that harms national prestige, the country's image or national security.

It seems the communist government is trying really hard to make the Olympics run smoothly, whether for their own legitimacy or for national prestige, etc. I think it's interesting how Beijing is tightening up and decades of the "upholding party ideals over social cohesion and civility" is finally being overturned to put on a show for the world during the Olympics.

Is it possible to enforce queuing in a society that hasn't properly queued for decades? We'll soon find out.

Of course, there's also this...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7521321.stm

China says it will allow demonstrations in three designated city parks during the Olympic Games in Beijing.

But anyone wanting to protest will have to apply for permission from the city's government and police.

The announcement suggests China will have a more relaxed attitude towards protesters during the Olympics than it had in the past.

I find this a little skeptical, as I wouldn't be surprised if there are security cameras taking pictures of all the protesters so the communists can arrest them afterwards on some trumped up charges of "treason" or something.

Views? Comments?

You could protest en masse by having a sudden crowd of people form up and pick their noses in unison.

what if I ask them to? also China is taking the Olympics waaay to seriously

i doubt finnish reporters would care if they would pick their nose

I really hope some major national embarrassment happens during the Olympics. I want some riots on the scale of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. As much as I may want the Chinese government to implode, I know that it probably will not happen. Most of the Chinese seem to swallow their nationalistic tripe. At least the government serves it with duck sauce.

I really hope some major national embarrassment happens during the Olympics. I want some riots on the scale of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. As much as I may want the Chinese government to implode, I know that it probably will not happen. Most of the Chinese seem to swallow their nationalistic tripe. At least the government serves it with duck sauce.

Well, but here's the thing. The communist government may be a necessary evil. Even though the party is 70% corrupt and its number one objective is to fill its own greedy pockets, it's still SOMEWHAT accountable to the people. I'm more in favour of moderate transition to democracy, because a sudden overthrow of the communist could cause millions of civilian casualties, etc.

And I think only a portion of the people over there are brainwashed. Most of the educated middle class knows how the party operates, but a lot of the rural and less educated people are more likely to believe the part propaganda.

Well, but here's the thing. The communist government may be a necessary evil. Even though the party is 70% corrupt and its number one objective is to fill its own greedy pockets, it's still SOMEWHAT accountable to the people. I'm more in favour of moderate transition to democracy, because a sudden overthrow of the communist could cause millions of civilian casualties, etc.

And I think only a portion of the people over there are brainwashed. Most of the educated middle class knows how the party operates, but a lot of the rural and less educated people are more likely to believe the part propaganda.

Russia experienced both economic and political reforms simultaneously without too much trouble. China updated their economy while remaining as repressive as ever. From what I can tell, even the "educated middle class" has been educated to be a group of Chinese nationalists.

Russia experienced both economic and political reforms simultaneously without too much trouble.

If you can call going broke, having mass unemployment and skyrocketing prices "not too much trouble".

Do Chinese people usually pick their noses when talking to strangers?

Here's what I think will happen in the olympics, with the smog, the communism and the control:

http://www.shipmentoffail.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/cop_stuck_cement.jpg

If you can call going broke, having mass unemployment and skyrocketing prices "not too much trouble".
Agreed, 1.5% Unemployment going up to 40-50%? Massive population decline, still going down 400K a year? Environmental Collapse in western russia and virgin lands?

That would be barely noticeable to the normal Russian I am sure :D *sarcasm*.

Only till the recent years did it show any improvement.

I wasn't picking my nose, I was scratching it...

I wasn't picking my nose, I was scratching it...

Well, he 'as got a big nose!

If you can call going broke, having mass unemployment and skyrocketing prices "not too much trouble".

The USSR had some economic trouble in the late 1980s. That's why they came up with perestroika to reform their economy and glasnost to reform their political structure. In the short term, yes, it broke up the USSR. The reform should have been introduced more slowly to avoid the shock effect. But this last decade has been a clear time of growth. Then again, Russian political reform has evaporated. In many ways, Russia wants to be the new China.

If you can call going broke, having mass unemployment and skyrocketing prices "not too much trouble".

Agreed, 1.5% Unemployment going up to 40-50%? Massive population decline, still going down 400K a year? Environmental Collapse in western russia and virgin lands?

That would be barely noticeable to the normal Russian I am sure :D *sarcasm*.

Only till the recent years did it show any improvement.

Not to mention the massive brain drain that resulted from and then exacerbated the previously mentioned problems.

Russian joke:

Under Communism, we were on the brink of disaster-- but since then, we have taken forward steps.

China is the fastest growing economical powers in the world, and a military power to be reckoned with. Who are we to say their form of goverment isn't suitable?

But worry not, party leaders have said that democracy will probably be introduced the next century or so.

Democracy may be the most "civilized" way of government, but it sure as hell isn't the most effective.

Ugh... Its the 1936 Olympics all over again...

Ugh... Its the 1936 Olympics all over again...

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b383/DrkHelmet/naziolympics.png

Lol China is hilarious.

I wonder how you're supposed to talk to a disabled foreigner in China?

I just hope they fix all the engrish signs in Beijing first. Some of them are absolutely hilarious.

Lol China is hilarious.

I wonder how you're supposed to talk to a disabled foreigner in China?
You don't, all disabled persons are banned from Beijing during the games.

You don't, all disabled persons are banned from Beijing during the games.

I figured China didn't even have any disabled people. With only one child per married couple, each baby would be immediately screened for disabilities. Anyone found out later to have a disability would be executed. That sounds like China in a nutshell. Supposedly Iran doesn't have any homosexuals either, so why should China have the disabled?

*sees foreigners coming; hides plastic nose catalog*

I just hope they fix all the engrish signs in Beijing first. Some of them are absolutely hilarious.

An old Pepsi slogan, "Come alive with the Pepsi generation", translates into Chinese as "Pepsi brings back your dead ancestors".

According to Richard Lederer's Fractured English, the Chinese characters that sound like "Coca-Cola" mean "Bite the wax tadpole".

On a Chinese menu: "Special cocktails for women with nuts."

From a China Southwest Airlines in-flight magazine: "Not drink tea just after dieting. Otherwise, the tea will dilute gastric juice and play down digestion. While, the tannate of the tea will turn protein to a coagulum that uneasy to digest. This will heavy the bear of stomach. So, you would better drink tea one hour after dieting."

All these anecdotes are taken from Fractured English by Richard Lederer.